WORKING AMONG THE MOST NEEDED

WORKING AMONG THE MOST NEEDED

“Rather than die hungry, I decided to walk home,” said Manoj, as he takes the slow and heavy steps along the road. Manoj who worked at a now-shutdown shopping mall in Vijayawada city. His family, 1,530km away, are desperate for him to come home in "any way possible".

"I haven't had a proper meal in the last four days… but I have made up my mind to reach my home by walking,” says Rajesh, who was working in a food stall in the city.
With India in lockdown over the coronavirus and no way to earn money, migrant workers face a grim choice: either walk home or die hungry.

According to a 2016-17 government survey, there are around 100 million unskilled or semi-skilled migrant workers in India. That’s approximately a fifth of the country's workforce.

Manoj is among millions of Dalit migrant workers who are left jobless and penniless due to the full shutdown of the country on Wednesday (March 25). This has sparked an exodus from major cities.

Thousands are walking long distances back to their home villages after all transport was stopped with the exception for essential services as authorities struggle to contain the outbreak, which has infected more than 18,600 people. The road seems endless, with no money for food, only taking rest by sleeping on the ground and living at the mercy of compassionate citizens who are giving food and water. These weary migrants are gritting their teeth and pushing hunger and exhaustion away, they keep on walking.  

“Most of us work at tea stalls or food joints. Since everything is shut, our employers have asked us to come back only after things get normal, as they don't have money to pay us. Since buses and other modes of transport are not available, we have decided to walk to reach home. It’s better to be home than to be here in the city without food and water,” one of the workers said.

As these desperate migrant workers are walking on the roads home, police are charging at them with lathis (wooden sticks) and filing cases against them. Some are even forced into quarantine without knowing when they can be released.
“My heart is broken when I see (on tv and newspapers) the migrant workers walking hundreds of kilometres to reach their families and home. My heart is more saddened that children are being forced to walk hundreds of kilometres”, said Elisha the founder of Light Homes.

He further said, “we have a few hundred migrant workers who are stuck in our area while they were walking home. Neither they were allowed to walk nor transportation arranged for them to reach their families. They had been taking shelter in a rundown iron yard, living by the kindness of others. Some days they are receiving food and some days nothing.”

When we look around the world now, everywhere people are suffering, mainly with hunger due to the pandemic. None of us expected and prepared for it. We get overwhelmed and discouraged by the vast need.
I’m no exception in this thinking. But I get encouraged by Mother Teresa’s words, “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”

We would like to thank the number of big-hearted, hard-working families from different states in Australia and small churches from country towns of Australia that are helping us to meet some of the needs of people who are struggling. It was made possible to feed the hungry because of your support.

We appreciate you and are grateful for everything you have been doing. We also want to specially thank the farming families in the country towns who, although have been suffering hardship due to Australia’s drought, have continued to support Imagine Compassion and feed the starving children.

We sincerely thank you for your unending love and loyal partnership with LIGHT HOMES for the support of Dalit people groups.

Please share the need with your friends, families, by doing so, you are giving others an opportunity to be a blessing to many.

If you would like to be part of this great work, you can contact us on +612 47226970.

You can make tax deductible donations to support similar humanitarian work through Imagine Compassion International Ltd (ICI).